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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25127881">Beach Day!</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizwuzthere/pseuds/Purble-Turble'>Purble-Turble (lizwuzthere)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon-Typical Violence, Family Bonding, Fluff, Gen, Mentions of Blood, Mild Character Injury</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:55:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,132</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25127881</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizwuzthere/pseuds/Purble-Turble</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s Beach Day! The turtles and April head out to the lake, but a sun and fun filled day gets interrupted by a furious mutant on a rampage!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>No Relationships</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>124</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey ya’ll, this is just an idea for an episode I’ve had for awhile. I drew the little cover page that’s below, so I’ll post it here along with <a href="https://purble-turble.tumblr.com/post/620218344889614336/its-beach-day-the-turtles-and-april-head-out-to">a link to it on my Tumblr.</a></p><p>I tried to keep the plot of this like something you’d see in canon, but obviously it gets a little more dramatic than is typical. Did my best tho! Anyway, the story is 3rd person from Mikey’s POV, and will be multi-chapter.</p><p>Comments are appreciated! Enjoy!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>Mikey was the last to hop off the turtle tank into the sand. His brothers and April were already unpacking their belongings; as they were opening bags of snacks and laying out towels, they all looked ecstatic to be there. It had been ages since the last time they got to have a beach day like this, so all the brothers were pretty eager to get settled when they had finally arrived at the lake.</p><p>However, before he joined the others, Mikey took a moment to bend down and dig his hand into the sand. Pushing down just a few inches, the grain gave way to hard packed dirt. He let out a barely audible sigh before standing upright and trotting over to his brothers. He did his best to keep his head down as he dropped his bag, but he must have not done a very good job of it.</p><p>“What’s the matter, Mikey?” His oldest brother’s voice pulled his attention up and away from the ground. “We only just got here and ya already look like you’re sick of it.”</p><p>“Oh, no no that’s not true!” Mikey waved his hands dismissively, plastering on his best smile for his brothers. “Honestly, I’m psyched to be here with you guys!”</p><p>Raph clearly wasn’t buying it. Stepping over the rolled up towels between them he put his arm around Mikey’s shoulder and pulled him into a half hug. “Come on, spill it,” he said, “I saw that face you were making just now. What’s buggin’ my baby bro?”</p><p>After giving a light kick at the sand below, Mikey frowned. No point in hiding his disappointment now that Raph had noticed. “Well, it’s just, I was kinda hoping I could do a sand sculpture or something.” Mikey used his foot to tip over his own bag and a shovel and pail rolled out. “Looks like there’s not enough sand for that here, though.”</p><p>“True, unlike the ocean, lakefront beaches tend to have more dirt or mud than sand,” Donnie said in a matter of fact tone, not even bothering to look up from his phone as he added to the conversation.</p><p>“It just stinks that we can’t go to the ocean. I mean, we came all the way out to Long Island and still have to go to a lake.” Mikey crossed his arms in front of his chest, taking a moment to look out at the lake itself.</p><p>They had pulled up to an area where there was quite a bit of space on the beach front. Out in the water a few buoys were floating along a line to mark off the designated swimming area with a floating wooden raft just inside the perimeter, and off to the side a short dock with a few small motor boats sat parked and empty. By all accounts it was a very nice lake. It just didn’t quite have what Mikey needed for his perfect beach day.</p><p>“Yeah, sorry Mikey.” Leo spoke up from the ground where he had wasted no time splaying out across his towel to take in the sun. He lowered his sunglasses for a moment to give a sympathetic look to his younger brother, “It’s just kinda hard for us to go to a public beach considering this whole situation,” Leo gestured vaguely at his own face, “I think we were only able to come to this lake today because it’s closed or something.”</p><p>“Oh, I guess that explains why it’s so dead right now,” April said, “but at least that means we got the whole place to ourselves.” She stepped up alongside Mikey and put her arm on his shoulder that wasn’t already being held by Raph. “Since there’s nobody else around to stop us, maybe we could scrounge up enough sand to still build a sculpture.”</p><p>Mikey smiled, this time genuinely, and nodded. “Yeah, thanks April. That sounds nice!” With that he bent over to pick up his bag again and started actually unpacking and April knelt next to him to help out. Raph on the other hand, turned away once Mikey had left his embrace and stepped over to Leo.</p><p>“Uh hey, what’d you mean by the lake is closed?” He asked.</p><p>Leo had already gone back to basking in the sun, and Raph stepping over had put him in the shade a bit, so he frowned at the question. “I dunno that’s just what Donnie told me,” He said, the impatience clear in his voice as he waved at his brother to move, “He picked this place, so ask him.”</p><p>Raph turned to his purple brother to do just that, but before he could vocalize the question Donnie held a finger up to silence him.</p><p>“No need to worry, brother of mine,” the softshell said, still looking down at his phone. “April was correct, we have the whole lake to ourselves; I saw an article just yesterday that stated the park service closed the lake and the surrounding recreation area to humans for the whole week. This was exactly the reason I suggested today’s excursion, in fact.”</p><p>“Hmm. Ok, that’s good I guess,” Raph mumbled. Ignoring Leo, who was now kicking the oldest’s legs to try to get him to move out of his sun, he continued addressing Donnie, “but, uh... why was it closed? Like, is it safe to be here? Is something wrong with the lake?”</p><p>This got Donnie to finally look up from his phone, “What? No! Just.. some boating accident that injured a fisherman or something... they wanted to investigate, abundance of caution, et cetera. The article was sparse on specific details, but it doesn’t matter.” He bent over and gingerly placed his phone into the purple bag at his feet, then went on to take off his gloves and socks and stowed them away while he continued speaking, “What does matter is that I noticed the announcement and set up this great beach day for you all, so you’re welcome. No need to thank me although you probably should. I hope you all have a fun and sun filled day.”</p><p>As this whole conversation was happening, April had grabbed one of the pails and shovels and was already helping Mikey as they both were rushing around the beach, filling buckets with what little sand there was to be found, and running back and dumping it in a (pretty small) pile. She paused dumping out her latest bucket as he finished speaking and looked at Donnie with a single raised brow.</p><p>“Uhh hold up. Why are you talking like you’re going somewhere?” She asked, “Are you not staying? I thought we were gonna hang today.”</p><p>“Intuitive as ever, dear April,” Donnie said with a smirk as he stood upright again, “but no, unless your idea of a fun time is drowning, I don’t think you should accompany me. You see, for the next two hours, I’ll be at the bottom of the lake.” With that, Donnie slipped off his mask as well, dropping it into his bag with a flourish and turning towards the water. “If anyone needs me for the rest of the day... please don’t.”</p><p>Before Donnie could even get close to the water, he was stopped by a large hand grabbing the top of his shell and lifting him away.</p><p>“Wait a sec, Donatello,” Raph said, turning to face his brother back towards the rest of their family, “I know you’re not about to just ditch us right now. This is supposed to be brother bonding time, so let’s do something we can all do together.”</p><p>When he was picked up, Donnie kicked out at Raph to try and force him to let go, but seeing that didn’t work, he just crossed his arms in front of his chest and pouted. “I don’t see why I have to give up what I want to do for the sake of family time,” he said, “and besides, if anything I should get to choose the activity because this was my idea. And I choose deep lake swimming. So if you don’t mind-“</p><p>“You already admitted you know April can’t do that,” Raph interrupted, finally placing Donnie down on the sand again. “and Mikey can’t hold his breath long enough to get to the bottom of the lake either.”</p><p>“I don’t see why I’m being punished just because the rest of you air breathers don’t have bimodal respiration.”</p><p>“Not sure what that means but it doesn’t change the fact that we’re on a family outing! Why don’t you wanna spend time with us, Donnie?”</p><p>“What are you talking about? We are constantly spending time together. But how often do we get to swim in an open body of water?”</p><p>“You can swim any time, we live in a sewer-!”</p><p>“I can’t BREATHE the sewer water, Raphael! That’s gross!!!”</p><p>Mikey placed down the shovel and pail in his hands. He knew the beginnings of a day-ruining argument when he saw one. Someone would have to step in and settle these two down because they clearly weren’t going to do it themselves. Just as Raph looked about to shout back his own response, Mikey stepped quickly between his two oldest brothers and placed a hand gently on each of their shoulders.</p><p>“Whoa there you two,” he said, “why don’t we all just take a step back and let Dr. Feelings help you work through this conflict, huh?”</p><p>Donnie rolled his eyes at the name, but Raph, whose mouth had been open and about to yell, instead took in a deep breath and gave a short nod.</p><p>“Great,” Mikey continued, looking up at the snapping turtle, “Raph, I’d like for you to express to Donnie why you’re upset by using ‘I’ statements, and without using any ‘you’ statements that judge or assume his intentions.”</p><p>“Sure thing, Dr. Feelings,” Raph said, his voice firm to show he was definitely taking this seriously. He turned his attention from Mikey back to the maskless brother who was still glaring at him, “Donnie, I feel like this trip was a good opportunity for all of us to do some fun beach stuff all together.. and uh, I dunno, I was looking forward to spending time with you. We haven’t hung out so much lately... is uh, what I feel.”</p><p>Mikey gave a short nod and then looked to Donnie, “So Dee, why don’t you respond following the same rules?”</p><p>“Well, what I feel is annoyed,” Donnie huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest again, “because I feel like I’m being bossed around when I’m told the one thing I want to do isn’t allowed.”</p><p>“No, Donnie, I didn’t mean you weren’t allow-“</p><p>“Hang on, Raph,” Mikey interrupted, holding up a single finger, “let’s give Donnie a chance to finish his thought before we respond.”</p><p>“Yes. Thank you, Angelo.” Donnie’s posture straightened a bit and his expression softened slightly, probably pleased at the mild scolding the oldest turtle just received.</p><p>“But Donald,” Mikey moved his finger to point towards Donnie as he continued, “remember, we’re not supposed to assume each other’s intentions. So why don’t you try rephrasing your first statement?”</p><p>Donnie deflated again. He hummed quietly for a moment before he finally spoke up again at a more audible level, “I feel... like...” he hesitated, his eyes darting back and forth in thought as he clearly struggled finding the right words, “like... I’m being dismissed... and that what I want isn’t being given a-any importance... and that feels... um...”</p><p>There was a weighted pause for a few seconds until Donnie finally looked away, suddenly very interested in the sand beneath his toes.</p><p>Mikey dared a glance back over at Raph; his big brother’s eyes had grown wide and he’d pulled his face into a tight frown. It was obvious he wanted to speak up and was straining to hold back so he could respect Mikey’s rule about waiting his turn. Donnie seemed like he was done anyway, so Mikey gave Raph a quick nod as permission to go ahead.</p><p>Raph wasted no time and stepped closer to his brother, putting his hand on Donnie’s shoulder. “Listen Dee, I’m really sorry. It totally does matter what you want, and I shouldn’t’ve been so pushy.”</p><p>The hand was quickly shrugged off, but even so, when Donnie looked up again he didn’t appear as upset as before. “Yeah well... ‘shouldn’t’ve’ isn’t a proper grammatical contraction...” he mumbled, “but, that aside, I guess I can see the merit of all of us spending time together for beach day. Even though I was really hoping for some alone time...”</p><p>“Let’s make a deal then,” Raph said, a smile finally forming on his face, “we pick one activity to do all together as a family, and then I won’t bug you the rest of the day... Sound good?”</p><p>Donnie returned the smile, “Yeah, that does sound good.”</p><p>Mikey watched all this with big excited eyes and a grin to match, but before he had the chance to say how proud he was of his brothers for such a successful resolution to their argument, he was surprised when he was suddenly tackled from behind and squished into Raph’s side.</p><p>“GROUP HUG!!” April cried out as she wrapped her arms around the three turtles, pulling them together. “New beach rule,” she declared as they all joined in the hug, “no more fighting allowed on beach day.”</p><p>“Good rule, April!” Mikey agreed with a laugh.</p><p>“Hey Leo,” Raph looked over to their fourth brother still laying on the ground a few feet away, “get off yer butt and come over here to give your family a hug!”</p><p>Leo didn’t move when his name was called, he didn’t even appear to open his eyes behind his sunglasses. Instead he remained exactly where he was splayed out on his towel, “No can do, Raphael,” he said with a smirk, “the sun has paralyzed me... I fear I’ll be trapped in its warm embrace forever.”</p><p>This was of course met by a round of jeers and booing from those still currently in a group hug. All except for Raph who responded to Leo’s smirk with his own.</p><p>“Well you heard ‘im guys, sounds like we gotta go rescue Leo!” With that, Raph wrapped his arms around the other three, lifting them off the ground and taking the few steps to close the gap between them and Leo.</p><p>“Wait, what are-? Oh no! No, no, NO!” The slider saw what was happening too late, and before he could scramble out of the way, he was squashed into the sand as all three of his brothers and April landed on him.</p><p>With a loud groan, Leo managed to pull his arms free from where they were pinned and give a half-hearted smack to Raph’s forehead, “You’re the worst!” He shouted, but there was the trace of a smile on his face as he did.</p><p>The comical slapping noise the hit made, for some reason, struck Mikey as particularly funny, and he couldn’t help but burst into laughter. It seemed his mood was infectious too, because before long the other four, including Leo, were all laughing along with him. Several minutes passed as they got caught in a cycle of them laughing, then just starting to calm down only for one to falling into more fits of laughter, pulling the rest along into a cascade of giggling.</p><p>Mikey was starting to feel a little exhausted from all the laughter, so after he wiped tears away from his eyes, he forced himself to suppress his giggling, and moved to sit up. The rest of them took the hint, and in just a few moments and all five of them had untangled themselves and were sitting upright on the ground.</p><p>“That was great, you guys,” Mikey said, still rubbing his eyes a bit, “I’m so glad we came out here today!”</p><p>“Yeah, me too! It was a great idea, Donnie,” Raph said, nodding to the softshell.</p><p>“Yes, I’m full of great ideas,” Donnie agreed. Reaching over to his bag, he pulled his mask out and moved to tie it back on as he continued, “Afraid I’m all out of ideas when it comes to what kind of group activity we should do, though. Any suggestions?”</p><p>April shot her hand into the air, “Oh, I know!” She shouted, then pointed back at the short pile of sand she and Mikey had started working on earlier, “Why don’t we all help Mikey with his sand sculpture?”</p><p>“Good call, April!” Raph moved to stand up. “And Mikey definitely deserves our help since he saved the day and all.”</p><p>This last sentence surprised Mikey a bit, and he looked up at Raph with wide eyes. “Wh-what?” He stuttered a bit as he spoke, “I didn’t do anything...”</p><p>“Don’t be so modest, Michael,” Donnie said, placing a hand on the youngest turtle’s shoulder, “if you hadn’t stepped in and calmed me down, I almost certainly would have shoved Raph and made a run for it.”</p><p>“Yeah, and I was prob’ly gonna try to tackle him or something equally stupid...” Raph mumbled, scratching his chin, “and we’d have ruined beach day for everybody. So we all owe you big time.” Smacking his hand into his fist, Raph exclaimed louder, “So let’s get to it! Together we’re gonna make the best sand sculpture this lake has ever seen!”</p><p>Mikey looked down, feeling his face flush a bit under his mask. It had been nice of April to say she’d help before, but he had mostly been humoring her. He hadn’t actually expected to be able to create anything worthwhile due to the lack of sand. Now they were going to waste the one group activity they’d agreed to on this just to make him happy? That didn’t really sit right with him.</p><p>“Well... I dunno. Maybe we should do something else,” he suggested, looking up at his brothers again, “I mean, it’s gonna take too long and we should do something everyone will like.”</p><p>“No, don’t be silly,” Leo said, waving his hand dismissively, “we’d all love to build something with the great Michelangelo!”</p><p>Ah, that gave Mikey an idea. “Yeah, well...” he folded his arms in front of his chest and put on his best pouty expression, “I just have this really specific vision for it is all... don’t know if I want to put it in the hands of amateurs.” It wasn’t a total lie. He had come prepared with a bunch of great ideas in his head about what to sculpt. It’s just all of them required more sand than what was available. He left that part out of his excuse, though. After letting that statement sit for a moment, he uncrossed his arms and tipped over backwards doing a half somersault to get back to his feet.</p><p>“Now come on, if we’ve got one thing to do as a family let’s make it more exciting,” he continued, clapping his hands together, “we should play a game! Anybody bring a volleyball?”</p><p>“Noooo, no absolutely not!” Donnie hissed, “Volleyballs are too similar to beach balls!”</p><p>“I brought a disk,” Leo chimed in, reaching for one of the bags, “we could set up goals on each side of the beach and do ultimate frisbee.”</p><p>“Yes! That sounds great,” Mikey nodded, “let’s set up the goals and pick teams!”</p><p>As Leo dug out the frisbee from his bag, April and Donnie each hurried to opposite ends of the beach to draw out a makeshift goal line. Raph on the other hand, stepped over to Mikey. He had that concerned big brother look that Mikey knew all too well.</p><p>“You sure, Mikey?” He asked quietly, “It might be fun for us all to help you on a sculpture. And we don’t mind, really!”</p><p>Mikey hesitated. Sure if they all worked together they could probably make something halfway decent, and it might even turn out to be fun... but no. There were other reasons it wasn’t a good idea. Reasons he didn’t really want to thin about right now, much less explain to his most overbearing brother... So with a bright smile, he nodded to Raph.</p><p>“Yeah, of course! This will be way more fun,” he insisted.</p><p>This seemed to satisfy Raph, who pulled the box turtle into another hug and smiled, “Alright, then how about you ‘n me team up to show these middle children who’s boss?” He held up his hand for a high five which Mikey immediately met.</p><p>It only took a minute more for Leo to realize he was looking in the wrong bag and finally pull the needed frisbee out. He teamed up with Donnie and April and all five of them proceeded with a pretty intense game of ultimate frisbee. The amount of jumping around and backflips probably should have been expected considering they were ninjas, but there were a few moments where even Mikey had to admit he was surprised his brothers were dexterous enough to pull the moves they did. For instance, in one harrowing stunt pulled by Leo and April, he had picked her up and literally tossed her nearly fifteen feet down the beach to intercept a toss. She did end up face planting into the sand afterwards, but Mikey hadn’t caught the frisbee so they considered it a winning move.</p><p>It didn’t even really matter to Mikey who was winning, though. He was just glad that his family was all together and having fun. Today was going to work out just fine. It wasn’t going to be his perfect beach day like he’d hoped, but at least he was confident that the fight earlier was about as dramatic as things were going to get.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Things get a little more dramatic this chapter! Also I did my best so I hope Mikey and Donnie don’t seem too out of character in this first scene.. I just like projecting my youngest child issues onto Mikey I guess :U<br/>Enjoy! Comments are appreciated 💚💜</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Phew! You guys smell that?” Leo slung an arm over the top of Raph’s neck, and dramatically sniffed the side of his head. “That’s Raph’s I-just-lost-by-double-digits stink!”</p><p>“Yeah yeah, laugh it up,” Raph said, pushing Leo away, “but you guys only won cuz you had three on your team.”</p><p>“Oh no big brother, I think you mean because we had ME on my team.” Leo kicked up the frisbee from where it laid in the sand and snatched it out of the air. He then made a show of throwing it the ten or so yards back to their towels and gear, landing it perfectly in his own open, blue bag. He finished off this move with a dab. Of course.</p><p>“Ok, that tears it, c’mere you little-“</p><p>Mikey watched with a smirk as Raph proceeded to wrestle Leo to the ground. The blue clad turtle managed to put up enough of a fight that it wasn’t an immediate take down, but he was still no match for their strongest brother. It was all in good fun though, as Mikey could tell from the smug grin still plastered across Leo’s face, even though that face was being pushed into the sand.</p><p>“Leo may not know how to turn off his bluster,” Donnie spoke up from behind Mikey as he walked past and towards their gear, “but it was a good game, you two.”</p><p>With one quick glance back at the two brothers still wrestling, Mikey turned to follow Donnie. “Yeah, it was really fun!” He made a quick jump over some of the bags in order to land on his own towel, and then plopped down to the ground. “Thanks for sticking around to play with us, Dee. You really didn’t have to.”</p><p>Donnie let out a quiet sigh as he took up a squat near Mikey. “No, I did have to. I think it was good that Raph stopped me,” He mumbled, his eyes locked on the lake in front of them.</p><p>Mikey looked up at his older brother with no small amount of surprise. Donnie wasn’t typically one to acknowledge when someone else was right, and almost never unprompted. There was probably something more behind this sudden admission. If he was careful, he might be able to coax it out of the softshell and they might even have a genuine, emotionally honest conversation. A rarity to be sure, considering his purple brother hated emotional honesty.</p><p>Mikey leaned back on his palms, mimicking Donnie’s gaze out towards the water, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible. “Oh yeah?” He left it at that simple question, hoping Donnie would take the bait.</p><p>After a moment’s hesitation, he did respond, “Well, that squabble just now with Raph made me, uh... consider something I probably wouldn’t have otherwise...” he was mumbling a bit, and lifted one arm to rub the back of his neck awkwardly, “You see, I was really looking forward to getting to swim out in the open today, and when I thought for a moment that I wouldn’t be able to do so, it was... well... disappointing, to say the least.”</p><p>This wasn’t exactly a revelation. That much had been obvious to anyone who was watching. Certainly his brother would have more to say, so despite the prolonged pause after this statement, Mikey kept quiet, only offering a nod to encourage him on. Donnie may not have even seen it, as he was still focused intently on the lake, but he continued nonetheless.</p><p>“So uh... If I hadn’t been able to do the thing I was looking forward to, I feel like it would have ruined my day.”</p><p>Giving a quick glance over at his brothers still wrestling in the distance, Mikey asked quietly, “...are you still mad at Raph?”</p><p>He wasn’t entirely sure that’s where Donnie was going with this, but the thought had occurred to him and he wanted to make sure. When his brothers got angry, for some reason he couldn’t help but want to interfere, like if he didn’t stop them from fighting, he might start to feel literally sick. Just the thought that Donnie might still be harboring some anger towards Raph was already twisting Mikey’s stomach into knots, driving him to fix it. In fact, as he asked the question, he was mentally queuing up Dr. Feelings so he could have another chat with the both of them if he got an affirmative response.</p><p>That didn’t come, though. Instead, Donnie shook his head, “No... It’s more that I’m mad at myself, I guess?”</p><p>“Oh, I see.” Mikey felt a bit of relief wash over him. So this was Donnie repressing his emotions and feeling bad about an outburst? That was basically just a regular Tuesday. He knew how to handle this.</p><p>Scooting to the edge of his towel to be within reach, Mikey placed a hand on his brother’s leathery shell and gave him a reassuring pat. “Donnie, there’s no need to feel bad about having feelings and expressing them, even if they’re negative. You’re allowed to get upset when things don’t go your way. It’s totally normal, and none of us hold that against you.”</p><p>“No that’s not- Listen, I love this guessing game, Angelo, but maybe I should just come out and say what I mean...” Donnie finally pulled his eyes off the lake and looked directly at Mikey, “I uh, should have warned you that we were coming to a lake and not the ocean. I hope it hasn’t ruined your day.”</p><p>“Wait, what?” Mikey pulled his hand away, more from surprise than anything. So this wasn’t about Donnie... it was about <em>him</em>?</p><p>His brother continued, “It occurred to me while we were playing that you were probably looking forward to working on your sand art in a similar way to how I was looking forward to diving in the lake...” Donnie’s gaze had started to trail awkwardly away from Mikey as he rambled on a bit, “and I realized I hadn’t really considered if you would have any fun out here, since there’s not much to do on the land, and I know you’re not as comfortable in the water as the rest of us so I’m... uh... I’m s-sorry... I guess.”</p><p>Mikey felt his face start to flush again. This conversation had taken a turn he wasn’t expecting. He silently cursed himself for pouting earlier about this not being the ocean; he hadn’t meant to imply that he was blaming anybody. This was so much worse than if Donnie had still been angry at Raph, because if he was feeling guilty, it was because of Mikey!</p><p>“Dee, you don’t have to apologize! I’m not mad at you,” Mikey said this almost frantically, leaning forward to try and get Donnie to look at him.</p><p>“It’s okay if you are,” Donnie said, reluctantly giving in and meeting Mikey’s eyes again, “you said it yourself: you’re allowed to get upset when things don’t go your way.”</p><p>“Yeah, but-“ Mikey started to speak up but then snapped his mouth shut again. His own words were being used against him, how ironic... but no, this was different! Donnie could express his anger and that was fine, but Mikey was the happy brother. Sure, sometimes he felt the need to let it out when he was mad, but that was what Dr. Delicate Touch was for: a way to express himself without arousing suspicion that he was actually upset... it was a joke that could be laughed off. That way he wouldn’t make his family worry about him, and he could avoid being treated like a pouting child. He got babied enough just by being the youngest, and he definitely didn’t want to be treated that way now when they were supposed to be having a fun day at the beach.</p><p>“Seriously, I’m not upset,” Mikey insisted, forcing a probably too big smile on his face, “I promise!”</p><p>If he was able to tell it was a fake smile, Donnie didn’t let on. He just offered a small smile in return and nodded, “Alright, if you say so,” he said, “but it’ll still make me feel better if you let me owe you a favor. How about that?”</p><p>Mikey’s eyes grew wide and his smile became more genuine, “Oh wow, a favor from the family genius, huh? That’s pretty valuable.” He tilted his head back, rubbing his chin in mock thought, “But gosh, I guess if it makes my dear brother feel better, how could I say no?”</p><p>Donnie leaned over and pulled Mikey closer in a sort of side-hug, then gave him an affectionate pat on the head. Before he could say anything further, a voice spoke up from behind and startled them both.</p><p>“Aww, that was super sweet you guys!”</p><p>Both turtles looked back around to see April sitting just a few feet behind them on her own towel.</p><p>“Uh, excuse me! Eavesdrop much?” Donnie grumbled, letting go of Mikey in favor of crossing his arms in front of himself defensively and glaring at April.</p><p>April just sneered back at him, “Oh, don’t be all grumpy. I was sitting here before you two came over... not my fault you didn’t see me before you started being all open about your feelings.”</p><p>Donnie opened his mouth looking like he was going to say something snappy, but then shrugged and let out an annoyed sigh instead. “No, you know what, forget it!” He finally stood up from his crouch and stepped away. “There’s no fighting allowed on beach day, and today has already had too much interpersonal drama for my liking. So, I’m going out into the lake, where there are no emotions.”</p><p>“Is that <em>your</em> new beach rule?” Mikey asked with a laugh.</p><p>“Yes, I’m declaring it: no emotions allowed at the bottom of the lake.”</p><p>“If you’re the only one down there, does it need to be a beach rule?” April asked.</p><p>“I won’t be the only one down there.” Donnie had gone over to his own bag again and proceeded to pull off his purple mask, tucking it away safely before turning back to finish his thought, “There will be lots of fish. Fish who are not interested in my feelings or talking about them. I might even make some new, lifelong friends.”</p><p>This got both Mikey and April to laugh, and appearing satisfied with that, Donnie turned towards the water to make his exit.</p><p>“See ya, Donnie,” Mikey called after, “come back around lunch time if you’re hungry; I made sandwiches!”</p><p>As he waded into the lake, Raph, who had Leo pinned and was now sitting on his shell while the slider flailed helplessly, looked over and also called out a goodbye to Donnie. The softshell didn’t turn around, but did offer a short wave over his shoulder before leaping forward and disappearing beneath the surface.</p><p>Mikey watched the waves from his brother’s dive dissipate before he looked away again. As he did, he saw April had crawled forward to take Donnie’s spot and was laid out on her stomach, leaning on her elbows and smiling up at him.</p><p>“So hey,” she said, placing her chin in one palm, “what d’ya say we go back to getting some sand ready for that sculpture?”</p><p>“Ah, right...” Mikey gave a short nod to the suggestion, but didn’t move to stand up. “In a minute though. I’m still a little tired from the game.”</p><p>“Okay, if you say so,” April said as she returned the nod. She was quiet for a moment before she looked out at the now calm surface of the lake again. “How long can he stay down there for, anyway?”</p><p>“Who, Donnie?” Mikey asked. He didn’t wait for her reply, it was obvious who she was talking about. “We’re not really sure, to be honest. We tried to test it a few times but it always took so long that we would get bored timing him. It’s, like, <em>hours </em>though.”</p><p>“Does he have secret gills that I didn’t know about or something?” April couldn’t suppress a laugh when she added, “Maybe he will make friends with the fish.”</p><p>“Ha ha, no, it’s...” Mikey paused in thought, “I mean, I don’t think that’s what it is. He explained it one time. Something to do with his throat and like, absorbing oxygen through his skin? It was weird and I didn’t pay attention. You could ask him about it later if you want; he loves talking about reptile biology.”</p><p>“Yeah, maybe I will. Sounds kinda cool.” April rolled over onto her side so she could look directly at Mikey. “What about you guys? Is he the only one with super turtle lungs?”</p><p>Mikey glanced over at Raph and Leo; the two brothers had finally moved on from wrestling each other and were standing by the edge of the lake and using the water to wash the sand off themselves. “Well, Leo once held his breath for almost an hour! He’s pretty fast too, though not as fast as Donnie. And Raph can stay under for a good fifteen minutes if he takes a deep breath.”</p><p>“Impressive!” April listened as he listed off his brothers’ skills and then lifted a finger to point at the box turtle himself, “and what about you?”</p><p>“Uhh, well...” Mikey rubbed his shoulder awkwardly, “I can’t hold my breath for longer than maybe a minute or two... I’m more of a land turtle, I guess.”</p><p>“Ah, okay,” April nodded, “Is that what Donnie meant when he said you weren’t as comfortable in the water?”</p><p>“Yeah... that, and I’m not a very good swimmer either,” Mikey admitted, “I mean, I can swim, but my brothers are all way better at it. So uh... I usually keep to the shore.”</p><p>April raised a single brow as she continued, “Is this somehow related to why you didn’t want help on your sculpture?”</p><p>This made Mikey pause. He met April’s gaze, doing his best to hide it, but he was pretty surprised. He probably shouldn’t have been; April was so good at knowing what he <em>wasn’t </em>saying.</p><p>The most annoying part was that she was right. It wasn’t just that he didn’t want his brothers to spend their time on something that would turn out mediocre. The real problem with them helping him out was that when it was all done, what was Mikey going to do afterwards? He knew his brothers all had something specific they loved about going to the beach, and if they finished his favorite activity to start with, what was he meant to spend the rest of the day on? His brothers would obviously go into the water, and he wasn’t able to keep up with any of them while swimming. Frankly, it was embarrassing to try. He needed something else to do: an excuse to not go in the lake when they inevitably asked.</p><p>He didn’t really want to say any of this out loud, though. So after sitting in the silence uncomfortably for a few seconds, Mikey pushed away the awkward feeling in his gut and smirked down at April. “Are you trying to get me to be open about my feelings too?” He asked, pointing an accusing finger at her, “Don’t make me join Donnie down there in the ‘no feelings zone’ cause I will!”</p><p>April rolled over onto her stomach again, letting out a laugh that was more like a snort, “Yeah okay, I’ll let it go,” she said. With a grunt, she hefted herself back to her feet and pointed back down at Mikey again, “but what I’m not letting go is helping you gather sand for your sculpture! We’re gonna scrape up every last grain on this beach if we have to, and it’s gonna be <em>fun</em>, you get me?”</p><p>Mikey straightened his posture, “Yes ma’am!” He shouted, giving a quick, joking salute before standing up as well.</p><p>At April’s instruction, Mikey grabbed up two of the buckets he’d brought along and the both of them proceeded to start running along the beach, pushing the pails in front of them to scoop up as much sand as possible. Mikey even started putting his gathered sand in its own pile so they could see who had gathered more. He wasn’t keeping track of how long it took them, but from the sweat they both worked up, it felt like about an hour’s workout. At the end of that time, though, they’d managed to combine their two similarly sized sand piles into a single big one that was about waist height.</p><p>Looking around at the surrounding beach, Mikey thought it was definitely good the lake was closed and they were alone here today, because it basically had taken every grain of sand to get this big pile. Long, straight trenches ran along the ground all the way down to the dirt all across the beach from where they’d harvested the sand making it look pretty unsightly. As he looked around he even started to feel a tiny bit bad about seemingly wrecking the beach, but that feeling was relieved when April threw her arm around his neck and leaned on his shoulder, shouting her approval.</p><p>“Whoo! Look at the job we did on this beach!” She wiped some sweat from her forehead as she continued, “I told you we’d get enough sand. Now, was I right or was I right?”</p><p>“Ha ha, yeah! You were right,” Mikey laughed. As he did, he started to feel a little bit of excitement again at the idea of making some sand art. Of course it would be April to get him all fired up; that girl’s enthusiasm was infectious. He circled his other arm around her and pulled her into a hug, “Thanks for helping, April.”</p><p>“Aww, bro, I’d do anything for you,” she said, returning the hug with a tight squeeze around his shell, “any of us would, you know that!”</p><p>Mikey mumbled a quiet “Yeah,” into her shoulder before pulling out of the embrace. He gave a quick glance back towards the lake where his brothers were. Leo had climbed up on the wooden raft and was splayed out, taking in the sun. Meanwhile, Raph was drifting on his stomach in the still waters on the opposite end of the roped off area. Half his face was submerged and he appeared to be focusing on something in the water ahead of him.</p><p>“Hey wait,” Mikey squinted at his oldest brother suspiciously, “RAPH! You better not be eating fish out there! You know I made lunch for everybody!”</p><p>The snapping turtle startled at being addressed suddenly, and slowly lifted his face out of the water looking extremely sheepish. “Uhh... I mean, I haven’t eaten any <em>yet</em>...” he called back.</p><p>“Ha!! Busted!” Leo let out a loud bark of a laugh and then lifted his head to look out at his older brother. “Don’t worry, baby brother, I’ll save Raph’s appetite,” he shouted this as he pushed up off the wooden surface of the raft, twisted his body around, bent his knees in, and leapt forward into the water. “Cannonball!!!”</p><p>While Leo wasn’t able to reach all the way across to where Raph was with his jump, the resulting splash and waves definitely did reach him. “Aw man!” Raph stood up in the water and raked his hand across the surface to splash at Leo who just came up nearby. “You scared off all the fish!”</p><p>Leo ducked his head back underwater to dodge the splash from Raph and then came back up with a devious smirk, “That was the idea!” Then he stood up to full height with his shoulders and arms out of the water and interlaced his fingers into one big fist, smashing it into the water towards Raph, drenching the turtle from the massive wave it created.</p><p>“Alright, you asked for this-“ Raph lunged forward trying to grab ahold of Leo, but the slider easily dodged out of the way, even giving a quick slap to the water between them to splash Raph right in the face.</p><p>“Oh ho, nice try brother,” Leo was now swimming in a circle around Raph, kicking out with his legs to splash him, “that might’ve worked on the beach, but you know I’ve got you out-matched in the water!”</p><p>Mikey and April watched with growing amusement as Raph and Leo continued to make a commotion out in the water, splashing and swimming around each other in a mock fight. It all came to a head when Raph finally managed to snag Leo by the ankle as he tried to swim past and dragged him back. Grabbing him by the shell, Raph lifted him out of the water and threw his flailing brother several yards out into the deeper water where he landed with a huge splash.</p><p>“Woo!” Raph cheered as he pumped both fists into the air and then smashed them down into the water to make yet another big splash.</p><p>Back on shore, April and Mikey couldn’t stifle their laughter at the brothers’ antics. Now with the bout basically over, April turned to look at him, “I’m gonna wash this sweat off, you wanna take a quick dip too?”</p><p>Mikey pulled his gaze off Leo who had resurfaced and was spitting water comically from his mouth in a spout. “Nah,” he said with a smile, “I’m just gonna get all sandy again working on this,” he pointed back to the pile of sand behind them, “but you go have fun.”</p><p>April nodded and gave Mikey an affectionate punch in the shoulder, “Okay, but if you do wanna join us, we’d love to have you out there.”</p><p>Rather than respond, Mikey just gave April an approving thumbs up and turned back to the task in front of him as she walked away.</p><p>They had managed to do a pretty good job collecting sand, even though it wasn’t as much as he thought he’d have. He could make it work though; he started running through all the ideas he’d had earlier and wondering how he could downsize them to fit with the material now available. Maybe that idea he had for a dragon, only smaller...</p><p>“Um...”</p><p>Mikey was pulled from his thoughts of a sand dragon breathing sand fire by April’s voice behind him. She sounded funny.</p><p>“UM-“ her voice pitched up an octave, the sound of her feet pounding against the dirt as she ran towards the lake, “LEO! WATCH OUT!”</p><p>Mikey spun around just in time to see a confused looking Leo be overtaken by a massive wave as something big, green, and sharp leapt out of the water behind him. Mikey felt frozen in place; he could only watch as a seething mass of teeth- <em>so many teeth</em>- lunged forwards about to clamp down on his big brother.</p><p>
  
</p><p>Mere seconds before that fateful moment, there was a blur of red, and suddenly the teeth went sailing in the other direction, thrown completely off their trajectory with Leo’s face. Raph pulled his fist back from where it had impacted the side of the beast’s head gave it a quick shake as if the hit had been painful for him.</p><p>“What the shell was <em>that?!</em>” Leo shouted, grabbing ahold of Raph’s arm, looking to hide behind the larger turtle, “Are there alligators in this lake? <em>How?!</em>”</p><p>“I don’t think that’s a regular alligator,” Raph grabbed ahold of Leo’s shoulder and shoved him back towards the shore, “it’s gotta be some kinda mutant. Come on, we gotta move before-“</p><p>As if that were its cue, there was a frantic movement in the water nearby as the beast flipped back around and leapt at them again, this time going straight for Raph. He managed to get his arms up and grabbed the mutant’s head, pushing to the side and causing the snapping jaws tobarely miss him.</p><p>“Mikey!” Raph didn’t look back as he shouted, “Get the weapons from the tank!”</p><p>Being addressed directly seemed to break whatever shocked trance Mikey had found himself in. With an affirmative shout, he turned and dashed for the turtle tank parked nearby. He took a diving leap underneath and went up through the bottom hatch which brought him straight to the rear, right where their gear was stored.</p><p>As he climbed up the ladder and spotted their weapons on the wall, he felt the anxiety that had gripped him start to ease. He had been scared for a moment there when it looked like Leo was going to be hurt, but that had only been because he’d been caught by surprise. It was going to be fine. This was just another mutant, and when they had their weapons there was no stopping the Mad Dogs!</p><p>He took his own kusari-fundo first, shoving it into the crook of his elbow to make room as he snatched up Raph’s tonfas, then grabbed the handle of Leo’s odachi, April’s bat, and -</p><p>Suddenly a wave of dread hit Mikey like a wall. He nearly dropped all the weapons piled in his arms as his hand stopped, frozen over the last one: the tech bo.</p><p>Donnie... how could he have forgotten...?</p><p>He wasn’t sure how long he stood there, hesitating over the staff, but it must have been longer than he realized, because he was pulled from his own thoughts by hearing his name yelled outside. Raph! The fear squeezing his chest mixed with shame as he realized they were still waiting for him. Ignoring the tears threatening to spill out of his eyes, he finally grabbed up the tech bo and rushed for the side door of the tank.</p><p>When he jumped down into the sand he was a little surprised to see the action had already died down. Raph and Leo were both standing nearby with April not too far off. All three were looking puzzled out at the water, but didn’t appear to be in a fighting stance.</p><p>Mikey ran up to them and threw their weapons down in front of them and turned to look too. The mutant that had attacked them was more clearly visible now that he was alone in the water, though it was hard to get a really good look at him, because he was thrashing about and struggling with what appeared to be absolutely nothing. Two things were clear about him though, he was definitely part alligator, and he was <em>really big.</em></p><p>“What’s he doing?” April mumbled, not even bothering to pick up her bat in front of her.</p><p>“I dunno...” Raph replied, “I figured he’d follow us onto the shore so we could fight here but, uh, he’s just kinda having a tantrum out there.”</p><p>“Fine by me.” Leo was the only one to bend over and take up his weapon, but all he did was dig the blade into the ground so he could lean forward on the sword’s handle. “If he doesn’t wanna fight, I say we let this overgrown leather handbag just go back into the lake where he belongs.”</p><p>This last suggestion sent a bolt of fear straight through Mikey’s heart. He realized the mutant was, in fact, starting to drift further away from the shore. He had even made it past the buoy line that marked off the swimming area, having snapped the rope from his thrashing.</p><p>“No!” Mikey rushed forward, loosing the chain of his kusari-fundo, he hurled it at the retreating mutant. The spiked weight burst into flame just as it made contact with the beast’s shoulder, but the motion of its thrashing seemed to cause the hit to glance off without causing much harm. That didn’t mean he didn’t notice, though, as the mutant suddenly whipped around to face the shore with a loud, angry hiss.</p><p>“Mikey, what’re you doing? Just let it go!”</p><p>Pulling his eyes off the alligator, Mikey looked back at Raph who had shouted to him, “We can’t let him go back into the lake!” He felt tears start to burn at the edges of his eyes again as he said this second part, “Donnie is out there!!”</p><p>The sudden horrified looks that crossed his family’s faces showed that they hadn’t thought of that until just now. Raph looked down at the weapons on the ground in front of them. Seeing Donnie’s bo there, he said what Mikey had realized back on the tank:</p><p>“And he doesn’t have any of his tech...”</p><p>Mikey looked back out at the mutant; he had gotten closer to them and didn’t appear about to swim away anymore, but he still wasn’t coming onto the land. “Th-this guy came from the lake... What if...” he felt his voice break, but he had to vocalize his fear, “what if Donnie’s already-“</p><p>“Don’t you <em>dare </em>finish that thought!” Leo interrupted him with a ferocity he hadn’t been expecting from the slider. Then Leo stepped up beside Mikey, his sword ready in his hand, “He’s fine. I know he is. We’ve just gotta find him.”</p><p>“Right,” Raph stepped up on the other side of Mikey, his tonfas gripped tightly in each hand, “Leo, use your portals to get out there, find Donnie, and bring ‘im back. Mikey and April, we’re gonna stay here and keep this leather headed jerk distracted. Got it?”</p><p>Mikey took a moment to wipe his eyes on his forearm and pull himself together. His brothers were right. Of course Donnie was fine. He had to be! He was the best swimmer in their family; there was no way this mutant would’ve gotten the jump on him out there in his element.</p><p>Before anyone else could even respond back to Raph, Leo had opened a portal beside him and was already hopping through it. Way off in the distance, a blue light appeared out over the lake followed by a loud splash as Leo dropped through the portal and into the water. The sound appeared to draw the mutant’s attention, as it looked back out at the lake.</p><p>“Come on Mad Dogs! This guy’s not gettin’ past us!” Raph slammed his fists together to activate his power smash jitsu as he rushed forward into the water. April followed close behind with her bat, even going so far as to leap up onto his shell so she could get a better shot at the mutant.</p><p>Raph immediately went in to grapple the gator, wrapping its upper body and head with the mystic version of his own arms and trying to keep it still. April took the moment of stillness to rear back with her bat and get a good smack in on the side of the mutant’s head.</p><p>Back on shore, Mikey hesitated. He stood at the edge of the water, swinging the chain of his weapon around in circles trying to decide what to do. If he stayed all the way back here, it would be harder to help if his family got in trouble which put them in danger, but if he went into the water he risked not being able to move out of the way if the mutant targeted him, and that would make the others have to cover for him and put them in danger anyway. There had to be some sort of middle ground...</p><p>He turned his head a bit to scan the lake looking for a solution. There were the docks over on the left of the fight with some boats. The dock was even farther than his current position on the beach though, and standing in a boat would be too unstable and wobbly. Looking back the other way, he saw the wooden raft Leo had been basking on. It had a pretty solid and flat surface, and it even appeared to be anchored down since the waves from the fight didn’t appear to be moving it away. That would have to do for now.</p><p>Mikey took off at a run and jumped into the water, holding his weapon close so as not to weigh him down, and started swimming as fast as he could towards the raft. He tried to keep one eye on the fight to his left in case it got any closer, but luckily it looked like Raph was managing to keep the mutant in one spot for now, and April had even grabbed onto the gator’s tail to keep it from flailing as much. Finally, he made it to the raft’s ladder, pulled himself up onto the wooden boards and started unwinding the chain of his weapon. Yes, this was a much better vantage point. He felt way more confident that he could help from here.</p><p>It appeared to be pretty good timing too, because just as he was getting his bearings, the alligator managed to grab ahold of the mystic projections of Raph’s arms. The mutant pulled Raph down to lay out flat in the water and using its tail, which April was still clinging to, started to thrash about and spin around in a roll, dragging both Raph and April around in circles, dunking in and out of the water as they yelled in distress. Finally, the spin attack got the better of them and both turtle and human went flying off and splashed down in the water in opposite directions.</p><p>The mutant didn’t get a chance to turn on either of them, though, because Mikey was ready. He launched his kusari-fundo forward, wrapping it around the gator’s head and body and pulling it tight to hold him.</p><p>“Ha! I’ve gotcha now!” He called out confidently, planting his feet firmly to hold the chain taught. “You’re not going anywhere, Leatherhead!” He smirked as he said it, feeling rather pleased with the new nickname.</p><p>“Ha! Nice job, Mikey!” Raph called out from across the battle field, “Hold ‘im tight, I’m coming-“</p><p>Just as Mikey was about to shout back a response, he felt the the handle of his weapon nearly jerk out of his hand. He reached forward with his other hand also to strengthen his grip, staring with wide eyes out at the mutant, or Leatherhead as he had just decided to call him. Leatherhead had started to roll again just like he’d done to shake off Raph and April, but this time he was wrapped in Mikey’s chain, and all the roll was accomplishing was wrapping it further around his body and reeling him in closer to Mikey’s raft.</p><p>“Oh no... uhh, Raph!” Mikey called out, looking to his older brother, “What should I-?”</p><p>Before he could fully ask the question, he felt a jolt and he was flung forward from the force of the alligator colliding with the side of the raft. Now down on his knees, he pulled back on the handle, grabbing a hold of the chain with his one hand and trying in vain to pull himself upright. He heard Raph shout out his name, but he couldn’t make out anything he said after that, he was distracted by the sound of cracking wood beneath him. Leatherhead was still rolling and it was breaking the raft apart.</p><p>What was Mikey supposed to do now? Should he let go? That would give him a chance to flee, but it would release the mutant who would almost certainly come after him. He’d be left without a weapon and he was way too slow in the water to get away. Plus, Raph was too far away to help. He wasn’t sure how this could get much worse...</p><p>Of course, as he was wracked with indecision, the choice was made for him as the raft finally shattered into pieces with a loud crack, and Mikey was plunged into the water below. He felt a sharp pain as something hit him hard, right in the stomach, and then suddenly he felt himself being whipped around in the water as his kusari-fundo was pulled forward again. He shut his eyes tight and held on for dear life to the handle, not sure what else he should be doing, and was dragged along some ways through the water.</p><p>After a few seconds of this disorienting motion, he felt himself lift out of the water. He pulled in a deep breath and dared to open his eyes. A few yards in front of him, Leatherhead was thrashing in the water, the chain of his kusari-fundo still wrapped around most of his body, but somehow he had managed to get one arm free of the chain and had grabbed ahold of it, whipping it, and Mikey, around in a frenzy. He didn’t get much more of a look than that, as he was quickly dunked back underneath the water by the force of the chain’s movement.</p><p>This was not working out well. He should’ve known better than to get involved in an aquatic battle like this. Raph and April barely needed him anyway, and all he’d done was make it worse and put himself and his family in danger. It occurred to him maybe the best thing he could do right now was just let go and swim to shore as fast as he could. Maybe he’d get lucky and the mutant wouldn’t go for him.</p><p>Just as he was starting to release it, the weapon was jerked forward one last time with a force far more powerful than before, and Mikey was sent flying out of the water and up into the air again. Suddenly, he felt the chain start to be pulled back down, but it was too late. He had already loosened his hands too much, and the weapon was yanked out of his grip and back down into the water. Mikey, however, kept going. Screaming and flailing, he flew up and up and way farther out than the confines of the rope barrier they were trying to keep Leatherhead in.</p><p>He heard his name being shouted, but the voices were growing distant. Right as he felt himself start to slow, he dared to open his eyes again and, oh boy, he wished he hadn’t. He was really high up. Far below him all he could see were the dark, murky waters of the middle of the lake. And now he was falling towards them. With one last scream he did all he could think to do; he tucked all his limbs and his head deep into his shell and braced himself.</p><p>A few seconds later he felt a hard, sharp pain in his shell and a loud rushing sound surrounded him. He did his best to hold onto it, but he could feel the air rushing out of his lungs from the force of the hit he took against the water. He tried to untuck his limbs from his shell, but for some reason, he couldn’t. He couldn’t move, he could barely think.</p><p>Mikey’s shell tipped forward and he drifted down into the lake, slowly losing consciousness as he sank towards the bottom.</p>
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